Integration of SWOT Analysis with Remote Sensing Method as a Sustainable Planning and Management tool for Protected Areas

Abstract

Protected areas are one the most important nature conservation landscapes and during the last fewdecades, the importance of natural areas have been considered as a priority for lifestyle preferencesof people around the world. Karatepe Aslantaş National Park is one of the examples for theseprotected areas in Turkey, however; there have been limited studies focusing on the preservation anddevelopment of a socioeconomic plan for the aforementioned national park. Therefore, this studyaims to develop planning and management priorities of Karatepe Aslantaş National Park anddetermine tourism potential towards future-oriented conservation. In this regard, a SWOT analysiswas performed to develop sustainable planning and design proposals. To determine the historicaltransformation of a protected area and its surroundings, Land use/land cover-change (LUCC)detection was performed using Landsat 7 ETM and Landsat TIRS/OLI satellites images of the studyarea for the years 1990 and 2018. The results showed that in 1990, the mixed forest class dominatedthe study area (2376.6 ha), likewise, it was the most effective land cover class in 2018 (2178.14 ha).Agricultural land with natural vegetation class occupied the second largest area for both 1990 and2018 with 1264.72 ha and 880.13 ha, respectively. A marked decrease was found for the transitionalwoodland/shrubs cover (565.8 ha in 1990 to 330.35 ha in 2018). Among the all land use classes, thehighest percentage of change was found for broad-leaved forest cover at 200% between 1990 and2018, while the lowest percentage of change occurred to water bodies with 8.82% in the same timeframe. Regarding the findings, management proposals have been developed to conserve the protectedarea considering its tourism potential and archeological heritage values. Therefore, it is recommendedthat the lack of planning and management strategies needs to be fulfilled as a legal commitment bygovernment agencies.